* possible trigger* Retained products of conception after MC- success stories needed!

[Minniemouse88]

Hello all, I hope you are doing okay. Just going through a bit of a hellish few days and hoping to hear some success stories.

After a medically managed miscarriage in hospital about 5 1/2 weeks ago for missed miscarriage, I was sent home and told everything had passed. This was our first pregnancy after 5 transfers.

My first period arrived a month after the miscarriage on time and was heavy and painful but not concerning. Cut to a week later and I passed a small piece of tissue so went to EPAU yesterday and ultrasound confirmed 2cm of retained tissue but thankfully bloods showed no signs of infection.

EPAU have been pretty awful with me. Sent me home with no plan and said a Dr would ring. Spent all day ringing and finally got through and was offered hysteroscopic management in 2-3weeks.

I'm really fed up as I was hoping to start round 2 and now fearful of uterus problems going forward.

Sorry for the rant, just hoping someone who has been through similar can offer a ray of hope

Thank you and take care all who are experiencing similar xx

[CarlottaD27]

I’m so sorry this has dragged out for so long for you - both practically and mentally I can imagine you need to move on.

Not the same, but following a blighted ovum miscarriage which happened at about 8 weeks, I continued testing strong positive and i assumed something may be retained. Coincidentally I was booked in for a hysteroscopy the following week to remove a small fibroid and the Dr also removed the tissue that remained.

I felt so much better after the hysteroscopy - the Dr explained it is far less invasive than a d&c as there is no scraping, I had no pain after the procedure, and the Dr was able to fully assess the uterus at the same time and make sure there were no other adhesions or issues that could impact implantation.

Whilst I’d never wish anyone had to go through these situations, for me the small silver lining was leaving the operation and feeling I had closure and feeling optimistic about future conceptions given the Dr had made sure the uterus was is good condition.

Really hoping you can put an end to this all soon and move on x

[Minniemouse88 in reply to CarlottaD27]

Thank you, that is really reassuring to hear and sorry you had to go through this too. Really appreciate you sharing, my faith in humanity is restored- it's been an absolute nightmare just trying to get it sorted and I felt quite let down by the hospital today. Thank you again xx

[CarlottaD27 in reply to Minniemouse88]

I remember the being in limbo being the worst part as you can’t move on with life as it’s so all consuming. It’s amazing the doctors have been so blasé about it all as I’m sure there aware it’s just prolonging the trauma. I hope the next few weeks don’t drag and you can plan something for after the operation (a holiday or even next treatment steps) x

[Minniemouse88 in reply to CarlottaD27]

Thank you so much again. Yes, looking forward to our little holiday this week and hopefully onwards and upwards when we get back! Xx

[Fruitandflowers]

Not quite the same but I had retained products after birth and it took about 2 months for me to know anything was wrong and then I was passing tissue and bleeding very heaving for the best part of a month. It had only been a very small amount that was left but it took such a long time for my body to deal with it and I did have an infection. Although by the time the gynea ward got involved it had pretty much gone and it did all go naturally and the infection cleared with antibiotics - they just did a repeat scan a few weeks later to confirm. I also had a pregnancy of unknown location last year and had to have emergency surgery at 10 weeks - that was a D&C and the hospital was very reluctant to do it - I think it can cause scarring and quite a bit of trauma to the area so it's a last resort. So even though it feels like you've been fobbed off, having had those two experiences, if they've confirmed no infection it's probably the least worst option to let your body try and pass the rest naturally, or have hysteroscopic management (I wasn't offered that, and I would have had that if it had been available). Re problems going forward, even after both those things I was able to conceive a few months later and they didn't see any scars or damage on any of the scans.

[PenpalLdn in reply to Fruitandflowers]

I'm sorry to jump in. How did they find out about infection? Did you have symptoms? Or through blood tests?

[Backagain987]

I’m so sorry. I had surgical management for one of my miscarriages only I kept testing positive afterwards. EPU kept telling me because I had had surgery it wasn’t possible to have retained tissue and I had to fight for weeks to get them to do a blood test for HCG which confirmed retained products. I had further surgery a few weeks later. It did take three more weeks for me to get a negative test and I did bleed for a few weeks.

The good news is, fast forward a few years, I now have a 1 year old daughter. So it doesn’t necessarily have to negatively impact your future chances. I know you will be keen to do your next round but I do recommend taking a few months to get your head around what has gone on. I thought I was fine but in hindsight i wasn’t!

Do message me if you want xx

[Minniemouse88 in reply to Backagain987]

Thank you so much and sorry you had to fight too. It's a painful enough process as it is. When I have recouped some strength I'll definitely be looking to support some miscarriage care campaigns as sadly, I've heard too many similar stories.

So lovely and reassuring you had your lovely daughter in spite of this. Thank you xx

[Seren0119]

I have been there and I am so sorry. In tried to rush into another egg collection but my doctor advised me to wait two months to allow hormones to settle to give it the best shot. I was distraught but in hindsight I e needed that time to recover x

[Minniemouse88 in reply to Seren0119]

Thank you. So sorry for your loss and yes, I',ll definitely be led by my doctor on timing. Hope you are doing okay xx

[Eswyn]

So sorry you’re going through this. It can feel so frustrating when you’re mentally ready to move on but your body has other ideas. I’ve had two miscarriages with retained products. The first time I did ‘expectant management’ ie. waited for it to pass naturally and it was gone with my first period after the miscarriage. The 2nd time was after a missed miscarriage and I had no idea anything was retained. I was gearing up for my next transfer and it was picked up in a scan. Thankfully no infection, but the hospital made me do a D&C the next day, which was horrific as I was awake for it. The good news is I had a healthy pregnancy in between and he’s now 3. My advise would be to get everything scanned/checked before you do another round just to be in the safe side xx

[Minniemouse88 in reply to Eswyn]

Thank you for sharing your experiences and for the advice. It's assuring to know that even with d&c your body recovered nicely and lovely to hear you had your little boy too xx

[Minniemouse88]

Thank you for all your lovely responses, which have made this all feel less lonely. I'm happy with the decision to try hysteroscopy and in the meantime see if it passes naturally. There's definitely not enough information out there on all this, so your comments have been invaluable, thank you xx

[alma88]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I know how difficult this can be both phisically and mentally, it seems like your body is managing it well, surgery will clear remains especially if is so small .I went through something relatively similar(medicated MC-2weeks after heartbeat stopped -1st pregnancy) and didn’t pass all tissue but 7 days later started hemorrhaging and ended up in A&E having surgery ( a lot of residual tissue left lower side closer to cervix). I am now 8days post op still spotting now and then, I have been told it shouldn’t affect any futures pregnancy so try to stay positive(I know is hard but is the only option we have😊) ,you might need some time to heal before you start your 2nd round depending on what doctors say( I personally want to go for another transfer ,but think will wait4-5 months right now don’t feel like my body would be ready or that I’m mentally prepared).Fingers crossed your surgery goes well and you can try again soon x x